Evan had another minor reaction today and it was fairly clear that it was due to eating rice. I called the doctor's office and they called back later today and told me to take Evan to the lab for bloodwork again.
The last food allergy panel had failed to test for a rice allergy so this time the doctor was going to specifically list each food he wanted tested.I arrived at the Diagnostic Labs of OK on Yale and 68th street at 3:45 p.m.
It was a HORRIBLE experience! I am sooooo angry right now that I'm still shaking and it's been over 3 hours! When I checked in, the two lab associates were talking to a woman about her lovely coat. They talked about coupons, and shopping, and Christmas presents. After a good while (about 15-20 minutes), they got to me. I went into the senior associate's office while she filled out Evan's paperwork. At this point, it was 4:28 p.m. Anyway, she complained over and over and over again that this was too much work to get done before 5 p.m.
She didn't understand why the doctor had listed each test separately.After much complaining, she finally started entering it into the computer. She couldn't do it. First, she couldn't figure out why the doctor had written the tests on a script pad. OMG! She made a copy of it and gave it to me to take the pharmacy!!! It only had the test written on it---NOT a prescription. I tried to explain that he probably just wrote on it b/c it was handy but she failed to comprehend what I was saying.
She also could not figure out the dr's fax number even though they had faxed the request over. I had to get up, walk over to her desk, and show her that the fax number was at the top of the page! It gets sooo much worse.
The doctor had requested 17 tests. Yes, I know that's a lot, but Evan has been really sick and we need to find out what is causing it. She made me call the doctor's office and get the ICD 9 code to process the billing or else she refused to do the bloodwork. I called and got the code immediately.
She could not figure out the CPT codes for processing so she called the associate branch that helps them with codes. Neither the woman on the other line nor "VAL" could figure out the code for the corn allergy test.
This is what gets my goat...I'm so livid I could spit or punch or scream... She told the person on the other end, "It's ok if you can't find it, we just won't run it." OMG!!! You do not---NOT---randomly choose what to test and what not to test. YOu have to follow the doctor's orders!!!I obviously called her on it.
She got mad at me and shook her finger in my direction and made a sour face. When she got off the phone we had a "discussion." I told her she had to run the test and she had no right to change the doctor's orders. Her response was "Well, you already ran the test last week so we should't have to run it again." I'm blown away by her stupidity. She finally agreed to look for the code and she found it from last week's panel. It was under Maize/Corn. She could not pronounce Maize so she spelled it to me and asked me what it was. When I told her, she shook her head as though she didn't believe me and said, "I've never heard that word in my 50 years."
They took 4 vials of blood from my baby. If had not been so late we would have left and now I wish I had. She was TERRIBLE. She didn't even give me a receipt!!! I will be writing, calling, e-mailing her boss and the corporate office.
If no action is taken, I will be writing more letters, making more phone calls, and enlisting the help of every friend I have to make sure that this does not happen again. This could have been your kiddo. What if Evan's allergic to corn and they didn't run the panel???? What other tests has she failed to run b/c she couldn't figure out the code or b/c it was close to 5 p.m.? What would you do? If I am unable to make progress, will someone help me write letters and make phone calls? I am serious about this. I have to make an impact here. Her behavior is totally unacceptable and unprofessional. I will keep you updated. Thank you for letting me share.
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2 comments:
Johnna,
Oh my, I'm pretty upset too and I wasn't there and it's not my baby. The behavior you had to deal with was completely and totally unprofessional and unnecessary!! If you don't get answers, I'd be happy to write a letter/email/whatever you need. You don't take the health of anyone, let alone a baby who can't even begin to tell you what's wrong, into your own hands. You follow dr's orders, you ask when you have questions, you don't simply forego a test because you can't find the code!!!
No way!!! I cannot even begin to comprehend how someone, namely a medical "professional" could behave in such an unprofessional manner. I can't imagine them doing that to anyone much less a defensless and hurting precious baby. Please, write as many letters and emails that you can and let people know just how poor this treatment was! If I can do anything, ANYTHING please let me know. In my job you ask when you have questions you don't just skip it beacause you're lazy.
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